When you're trying to lose weight or help a family member slim down, every calorie counts. Cutting calories doesn't have to mean buying prepackaged diet plan food or completely changing the way you cook. With some simple calorie-saving ingredient substitutions, you can trim excess calories and still make your family's favorite dishes.

In this article, we'll look and 10 easy food substitutions that will cut the calories without dramatically altering the taste or texture of your meals.

In dishes where meat provides flavoring, use mushrooms instead. Chopped mushrooms can take the place of ground beef or Italian sausage in spaghetti sauce. Use thick-sliced mushrooms in place of bacon and pancetta in pasta carbonara. The calorie savings of substituting 1 cup (99 grams) of mushrooms for 4 ounces (113 grams) of meat: 250 for ground beef, 314 for ground pork.

Lasagna is a terrific comfort food, but it packs an uncomfortable amount of calories. A surprising number comes from the lasagna noodles. You can slash the calorie count by substituting fresh vegetables. Insert zucchini or eggplant sliced lengthwise for every other noodle layer. This reduces the calories from 210 (for 3 noodles) to around 20.

Be wise about rice on the next page.

8

Wild Rice

Try wild rice instead of white rice for both fewer calories and a different taste.

Introduce your family to wild rice and drop 18 calories per 1-cup (99-gram) serving. In addition to fewer calories, you'll get higher fiber and much better nutrition than you do with white rice. Because wild rice still has its fibrous outer layers, it holds up well in soups and casseroles. Plus, its varied grains and textures provide delightful flavors and chewing pleasure.

Dessert on a diet? See how to do it on the next page.

7

Lighter Cakes

Add some fresh strawberries and blueberries with angel food cake for a colorful, healthy arrangement.

When you need a celebratory dessert, try this light-as-air cake. Start with angel food cake instead of butter or cream cake. Slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread a layer of sliced strawberries on the bottom half. Replace the top half and fill the center hole with more sliced strawberries. Instead of frosting, cover the cake with a low-calorie, non-dairy topping and garnish with a few fresh, whole strawberries.

Many calories in dairy products come from fat. By stepping down fat content in milk and cheese, you can save calories on a regular basis. Moving from whole milk to 2 percent milk cuts 25 calories from each 8-ounce (237-milliliter) serving. Reach for 1 percent and trim another 17 calories.

If you substitute evaporated milk or half-and-half for heavy cream in sauces or casseroles, you'll eliminate over 50 percent of the calories. Choose 1 percent milk-fat cottage cheese over ricotta and dump 135 calories from each 1/2 cup (50-gram) serving.

The difference in calories between whole eggs and egg whites is astounding. You can make most dishes using only the whites. You'll need to use twice as many -- two egg whites instead of one whole egg -- but you'll save about 40 calories overall.

When a baking recipe calls for vegetable oil, use unsweetened applesauce instead. It provides the moisture necessary to bind your ingredients together and gives your baked goods a light, fruity taste. Plus, look at all the calories you'll save:

When meat is central to your meal, shave calories by using turkey instead of beef or pork. Because it takes up spices well, ground turkey is ideal for tacos, chili and spaghetti sauce. By exchanging ground turkey for ground beef, you'll nip 12 calories off every 4-ounce (113-gram) serving; you'll save 70 calories over every 4-ounce (113-gram) serving of ground pork.

As an entrée, a 4-ounce (113-gram) serving of roasted turkey breast has about half the calories of a 4-ounce (113-gram) lean, center-cut pork chop.